Ad-Hocism In Income Tax Survey Reforms

In paragraph 151 of the Budget speech for 2003-04 relating to administrative reforms in income-tax, finance minister Jaswant Singh announced two changes for simplifying the survey operations:

No survey operations will be authorised by an officer below the rank of the joint commissioner of income-tax;

Books of account impounded during survey will not be retained beyond 10 days without the prior approval of the chief commissioner/director-general.

These are welcome changes. But the subject needs a more considered attention to make it less onerous for the taxpayers and make the presence of the tax department felt by evaders and non-filers of tax returns.

These objectives cannot be achieved by such ad hoc approaches.

The experience of taxpayer in regard to surveys, conducted by the tax department, has been bitter. In the Shyam Jewellers vs Chief Commissioner (Administration) case, (1992) 196 ITR 234 (Allahabad), the assessee